KAB User Manual.indd
Contents
1. clear on the left of the name display when it is highlighted by the mouse The button labelled L above which highlighted and clicked will display a list of the preset Sections in the library For more information see the section on loading library files later in this manual FX1 Patch Clicking on this control will display a branching menu of available FX preset patches Selecting an FX patch from the menu will cause it to be loaded into the first FX unit If you wish to unload the patch on an FX unit right click on this control and select unload from the menu that appears FX2 Patch Clicking on this control will display a branching menu of available FX preset patches Selecting an FX patch from the menu will cause it to be loaded into the second FX unit If you wish to unload the patch on an FX unit right click on this control and select unload from the menu that appears AMG Logo Clicking the AMG Logo takes you to the Options Screen see later section ADVANCED MEDIA GROUP 9 Timbre Specific Controls AMG Kick Ass Brass has a five groups of controls at the left and right sides of the interface for controlling parameters specific to the currently selected Timbre The currently selected Timbre is shown in highlighted text in the Display Screen You can change the currently selected Timbre by clicking in the Instrument Name column The currently selected Timbre will also change automatically if you alter2. Instrument Name When no Instrument is selected on a Timbre this column displays To select an Instrument from the Kick Ass Brass library look for the pair of buttons at the left edge of this column There is a separate pair of buttons on each row The buttons will light up if you position your mouse near them The top button labelled L when clicked will show a list of all available Instruments and Variations in the installed library Selecting an item from this menu will cause that instrument patch to be loaded Given the large size of the Instrument files loading can sometimes take several seconds especially on slower computers To unload an Instrument from a Timbre either right click on the Instrument Name and choose unload or click the lower button labelled C at the left edge of the Instrument Name column Also clicking in the Instrument Name column will set the currently active Timbre to that row and show the settings for that Timbre on the surrounding controls Variation Name A Variation is a particular style of playing an Instrument If no Instrument is loaded on the current Timbre clicking in this column will do nothing When an Instrument is loaded on the Timbre clicking in this column will display a menu of the available Variations of that Instrument Selecting an item from this menu will cause that Instrument Variation to be loaded which can take a few seconds Transpose Clicking and dragging v
3. Digital Inc or its affiliates in the United States and other countries All other trademarks remain the exclusive property of their respective holders All other Kick Ass Brass content and intellectual copyrights AMG 2005 2006 ADVANCED MEDIA GROUP
4. Vibrato Controller messages have over the amount of Vibrato applied from 100 to 100 When this parameter is centred zero the Vibrato Controller will have no effect on the amount of Vibrato heard When this control is set to 50 there will always be HALF of the amount of Vibrato set in the Vibrato Amount control at all times when the value of the Vibrato Controller is zero but all of it will be heard when the controller is set to maximum The best way to use these controls is to set a maximum amount of vibrato depth that you want to hear for example when the modulation wheel is fully turned Then assign the Vibrato Controller to modulation wheel set the wheel to its zero position and adjust the Vibrato Controller Depth parameter to the desired amount of Vibrato in this position Then sweeping the modulation wheel from fully open to fully closed will smoothly adjust the amount of Vibrato applied between these two values Note that a negative value of Vibrato Controller Depth will cause the action of the controller to become inverted so reducing the value of the controller will increase the amount of Viibrato heard and vice versa LAGI RERI ee aa TO Vibrato Amount 2096 Da ene Vibrato Controller Amount 0 Controller at O Controller at 127 75 of l 209 Vibrato Amount 2096 i Vibrato Controller Amount 7596 RATE ie Controller at O Controller at 127 75 of eal 20 DE Vibrato Amount 2096 Vibr
5. mappings Simply right click on any control to display a menu of the current MIDI CC settings Choose link to next CC from the menu to put a control into learn mode Once a control is in learn mode it will automatically link itself to the next CC message that it receives Note that MIDI controller functionality may differ from host program to host program Some sequencers for example intercept and do not pass MIDI controller messages in their entirety to loaded plugins FL Studio Logic Audio for example You should refer to your sequencer s user manual for more information if you are not sure Parameter MIDI controller Volume 7 Pan 10 FX1 Send Amount 91 FX2 Send Amount 93 12 Copyright and Credits Sample Programming amp Management Steve Cooke amp Steve Cochrane Tachyon Engine customisation David Waugh for Muon Software Ltd Tachyon Engine coding David Waugh Steve Baker Graphics Shaun Ellwood for Decoder Design Project Management Matthew Wilkinson for AMG ADVANCED MEDIA GROUP AMG 5500 Military Trail Ste 22 306 Jupiter FL 33458 USA Phone 1 561 282 6257 Fax 1 561 282 6905 www samples4 com www amguk co uk Tachyon technology used under license from Muon Software Ltd REX technology by Propellerhead Software AB VST is a trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies AG REX is a trademark of Propellerhead Software AB ACID and ACIDized are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sony Pictures
6. ADVANCED MEDIA GROUP ub SS SS TASS VIRTUAL HORN SECTION PLUG IN USER MANUAL 1 Foreword Thank you for purchasing this AMG Kick Ass Brass virtual instrument plugin To get the best from your software purchase we recommend that you read this manual carefully and keep a copy in a safe place for future reference Should you experience problems operating this product and can t find the answers in this manual our technical support representative can be contacted at techsupport amguk co uk Don t forget when contacting technical support to describe the problem in as much detail as possible and provide details of your system configuration operating system host program CPU RAM etc The latest version of this User Manual and Library Guide are always available for download from the Kick Ass Brass product page on www samples4 com The AMG virtual instrument team 2 Compatibility The AMG Kick Ass Brass virtual instrument has been tested with a wide variety of VST2 compatible host programs However host programs vary in their specifications and some may not implement features in the VST2 specifications that AMG Kick Ass Brass relies upon You should carefully check a demo version with your own system if you are worried about compatibility issues 3 Minimum System Requirements Windows 9x 2K XP 800mhz processor 1gb RAM MacOS OS X 10 3 9 800mhz G4 1gb RAM VST2 plug in compatible host software although a standalone versio
7. Ass Brass s internal synthesiser engines called Timbres The currently selected Timbre is always highlighted in bright yellow and is the focus for editing operations You can only edit one Timbre at a time Around the display screen there are a number of controls that relate to parameters of the currently selected Timbre Theses control settings may change depending on the Timbre currently highlighted There are four basic types of controls used throughout Kick Ass Brass s user interface SALAJ Rotary controls knobs Controls such as volume and pan as shown in the screenshot above use rotary controls to display their settings To change the value of a rotary control click on it hold the mouse button down and drag vertically Dragging up will increase the value knob will turn right and dragging down will decrease the value knob will turn left Whenever you click on a control a small pop up box will display the exact value you are changing To set a control to its default value hold down the CTRL key on your keyboard when clicking and to get Rotary Knob more precise control hold down SHIFT when clicking and dragging If you use a host such as Cubase it is possible to change the rotary control mode from Vertical to Round and Round in your project preferences We recommend the default Vertical mode however e Number Spinners The MIDI channel and Transpose controls shown in the Display Screen are examples of Nu
8. ato Controller Amount 75 Controller at 0 Controller at 127 ADVANCED MEDIA GROUP e Glide Mode In Kick Ass Brass Gliding means to slur the pitch at the beginning of a new note up or down from the pitch of the previous note that was played The exact effect is dependent on the Glide Mode Glide Time and the previous note being played It is used to simulate the natural pitch slurring inherent to playing runs of notes on brass instruments There are four closely related Glide Modes available Legato Time Legato Rate Portamento Time Portamento Rate In the two Legato modes a glide is triggered when overlapping notes are played i e if a new note is played while an old one is still being held If notes are played cleanly glides will not occur In the two Portamento modes each new note will always glide from the pitch of the last key played to the new key regardless of the interval between notes Glide Rate Determines how long the Glide will take to move from the starting pitch to the final pitch of the new note The Time and Rate parts of the mode name relate to how the Glide Rate parameter is interpreted In Legato Time and Portamento Time modes the Glide Rate is interpreted as an absolute measure of time in milliseconds for the glide to finish after the start of the note In Legato Rate and Portamento Rate modes the Glide Rate is interpreted as a measure of how long it will take to chang
9. control to display a menu of the current MIDI CC settings Choose link to next CC from the menu to put a control into learn mode Once a control is in learn mode it will automatically link itself to the next CC message that it receives Legato Time Legato Rate Portmento Time their entirety to loaded plug ins FL Studio Logic for example You should refer to your Portmento Rate sequencer s user Manual for more information if you are not sure Note that MIDI controller functionality may differ from host program to host program Some sequencers for example intercept and do not pass MIDI controller messages in Glide Drop down Menu 7 The Display Screen The Display Screen is the main area of the plugin s user interface It is a grid of seven columns and eight rows one row for each Timbre available The currently selected Timbre is highlighted in a brighter orange colour than the surrounding text The columns are from left to right Output Selector AMG Kick Ass Brass is a multi output plugin Four stereo pairs will appear as mixer channels in suitable hosts Please consult your host manual for information about compatibility and instructions for how to use multi output plug ins When mixing down a complex horn arrangement or if you want to use your host program s EQ or FX features assign different Timbres to different outputs for separate processing To assign a Timbre to an output firstly select the Ti
10. d by all 8 channels in AMG Kick Ass Brass but you can set independent FX send levels for each Timbre FX presets cannot be edited A Section file contains the Instrument assignments and settings of all 8 channels plus both FX units There are a number of preset Sections in the Library offering suggested combinations of Instruments and Variations for various purposes If you create a horn Section that you like you can Save it to disk for later recall separately from the library Instrument Variation files and Section files saved in this way do not contain the original samples but merely refer to the original preset files in the library For this reason you should not attempt to modify the filenames or locations of the library files You can however place the library folder anywhere on your system that you like even on removable or networked media Details of how to do this are in the section on the Options page later in this manual 5 Copy Protection The files in the AMG Kick Ass Brass library are protected from unauthorised use by an advanced encryption scheme In order to access the encrypted content customers must register their Kick Ass Brass purchase with the AMG website In order to register three pieces of information are required Customer Name Address amp e mail address Serial Number Machine ID The serial number of your AMG Kick Ass Brass virtual instrument is unique for each copy sold and will be shown on a sticker in the pro
11. duct packaging The Machine ID is a special 32 character code displayed on the product s Option page generated using information about your specific computer The machine ID does not access or use any information that might be able to identify you as a person instead a number of internal hardware metrics are scanned and combined to calculate your Machine ID Once AMG receive your registration you will receive a small license file by email that you must save onto your system in the same location as the Kick Ass Brass library Once installed the license file will enable you to access the encrypted content but only on the machine authorised to run the plug in If you need to install the library on multiple machines please contact AMG customer service for more information Remember you do need to have a working email address to receive your license file ADVANCED MEDIA GROUP 6 Front Panel Basics When AMG Kick Ass Brass is correctly installed in your host sequencer it will be selectable from within your host Ser MEDIA BO program s VST instrument menus When AMG Kick Ass Brass is selected in accordance to your host program s instructions the user interface above will be displayed The user interface is designed to look a like a sort of cool rackmount sampler with a glowing red display screen The display screen shows eight lines of text each divided up into a number of columns Each line corresponds to one of AMG Kick
12. e rather than to individual Timbres Section Load Loads a saved user Section file into the plug in When this button is clicked a standard file browser will be displayed Windows users will have to select using the drop down selector at the bottom of the dialog window which sort of files they are browsing for Mac OSX users will not have to do this invalid file will appear greyed out in the browser window The file extension for a Section file is kbm You can only load your previously saved Section files if the original library is present on your system and your Library Path is correctly set in the options screen You also need a valid License File saved with your Library This is because Section files do not contain any sample data Section Save Saves the entire state of the plugin including all Timbres Instruments and their settings as a user Section file When this button is clicked a standard file browser will be displayed Use the dialog to navigate to the folder you would like to save your file in provide a filename and click OK The filename defaults to the name of the current Section displayed in the plugin s Section display Instrument Load Loads a saved user Instrument file into the plug in When this button is clicked a standard file browser will be displayed Windows users will have to select using the drop down selector at the bottom of the dialog window which sort of files they are browsing for Mac OSX us
13. e the pitch over a given number of semitones If you don t want large and small changes of pitch to occur in the same length of glide select a Rate mode as appropriate for the type of triggering you want This will mean that the larger the difference between the starting pitch and the final pitch the longer the glide will take If this is not desirable select a Time mode where each glide regardless of difference in pitch will always take the time specified by this parameter to complete High EQ Amount Sets the strength of the internal high frequency treble shelving EQ effect from 100 to 100 A setting of zero switches the High EQ module off Negative values make the selected Timbre less bright sounding and positive values emphasise the higher brighter tones of the instrument Low EQ Amount Sets the strength of the internal low frequency bass shelving EQ effect from 100 to 100 A setting of zero switches the High EQ module off Negative values make the selected Timbre less full or deep sounding and positive values emphasise the lower darker boomier tones of the instrument FX1 Send Amount Determines how much of the signal from the currently selected Timbre will be fed to the first FX unit FX2 Send Amount Determines how much of the signal from the currently selected Timbre will be fed to the second FX unit ADVANCED MEDIA GROUP 10 The Options Screen The Options Screen is accessed when the AMG
14. ers will not have to do this invalid file will appear greyed out in the browser window The file extension for a Instrument file is kbp You can only load your previously saved Instrument files if the original library is present on your system and your Library Path is correctly set in the options screen You also need a valid License File saved with your Library This is because Section files do not contain any sample data Instrument Save Saves the state of the currently selected Timbre as a user Instrument file When this button is clicked a standard file browser will be displayed Use the dialog to navigate to the folder you would like to save your file in provide a filename and click OK The filename defaults to the name of the current Section displayed in the plug in s Section display Saved user Instrument files contain only the parameters relevant to that instrument and not the Section as a whole your glide solo and vibrato settings will be saved but not the volume pan output MIDI channel transpose FX sends settings which are part of the Section If you need to save a complete set of parameters save your settings as a Section instead Section Name The name of the currently loaded Section is displayed in this box Double click on the text to change the Section name The plugin s memory can be cleared by right clicking on this box and selecting unload from the pop up menu or by clicking the button labelled C
15. ertically in the Transpose column will alter the transpose parameter of that Timbre between 12 and 12 semitones MIDI received by the plugin will be transposed by this amount before being sent to the synthesiser engine The Transpose parameter is normally used to shift an Instrument into a different key without altering the MIDI data Also if you find a particular Instrument has an awkward keyboard range you can use the Transpose parameter to move the range up and down your master keyboard if you want to move an Instrument down an octave on your master keyboard set a Transpose of 12 Solo Mode Clicking in the Solo Mode column will show an On Off menu for the currently selected Timbre Select an item from this menu to change the Solo Mode When Solo Mode is ON the timbre will play only one note at a time monophonically and it is possible to perform simple fast trills by holding one note and playing but then releasing another In such a sequence the engine will play the first note then the second and then automaticallly return to the held note This is a very useful feature in conjunction with the Glide Mode When Solo Mode is OFF the plugin will play polyphonically and permit chords etc 8 Global Controls AMG Kick Ass Brass has a group of four global buttons at the top of the screen for loading and saving your edited Instrument Variation and Section files Also there are other global controls that apply to the Section as a whol
16. he plugin If this file is not present your Library will still scan correctly and the patch menus will be displayed but you will not be able to load any patches In general it is not safe to make modifications to the folder indicated in your Library Path It should start out as a direct copy of the folder on your installation CD ROM Altering the contents of this folder in any way except deleting cache kbc files might cause unexpected error messages to be displayed e Machine ID As mentioned in the section on copy protection the Machine ID is a unique fingerprint of your system based on metrics taken from certain hardware elements It does not contain any information that can identify you as a person and it is unique for that particular combination of hardware on your system Your Machine ID is required by AMG as part of the registration process This allows AMG to generate a unique License File for your exact Computer Without this license file the plug in cannot decrypt the files in the Library and will not be able to load any sounds To make it easy to register clicking on the Machine ID display will reveal a menu with three options Copy To Clipboard Register at AMG website Save to File If you copy the Machine ID to your clipboard this will enable you to use the normal paste command in your email or web browser application during the registration process to automatically complete the Machine ID field in the registration f
17. logo at the bottom of the interface is clicked To return to the Main Screen click anywhere in the Options Screen background There are only two controls on the Options Screen Library Path This text box displays the location when AMG Kick Ass Brass believes its library files to be installed By default when the plugin is installed this is set to your current user documents folder If the library is not installed to this location you must click in this field to display a folder selection dialog and choose the location where you copied the library from the CD ROM Selecting the Library Path like this causes AMG Kick Ass Brass to rescan the library directory and create new cache files for its patch menus kbc files If at any time you delete the kbc files in your library folder the plugin will automatically rescan the folder shown in the Library Path next time it is started If you decide to move your library folder after it has been used it is a good idea though not essential to delete the kbc files before you move it If the plugin cannot find the library folder you will receive an error message stating Library Scan Failed upon starting the plugin If the library folder is present and correctly set but does not contain the correct folder structure and files underneath you may also receive this warning The Library Path is also the folder on your system where you must save the License File sent to you by AMG after registering t
18. mber Spinner controls These work in the same manner as the Rotary Controls described above except they display their value as a numerical value Therefore to change a Number Spinner control click on number display and drag vertically up or down The CTRL and Shift keys also act in the same way on these controls Buttons Each Timbre line in the Display Screen has its own Load and Clear icons that glow when you hover the mouse over them Once the mouse is over the control and it is highlighted simply click Alto Sax Ends Expression Falls Finish vv VAY v Full Program Mixed Stabs Rips Falls Slides Swells 1 Drop down menus Baritone Sax Mute Trumpet Tenor Sax Trumpet Controls where there is a set menu of choices for example Glide Mode or FX patch have been implemented with drop down menus Click on the control to display the menu of Swels 2 choices and then click an item to select your desired option Some menus have multiple Swels 4 levels of options in a cascade Some menus are accessed via a right click command click l Vibrato CMSS Drop down Timbre Load menu AMG Kick Ass Brass can also be controlled entirely from an external MIDI controller providing that controller is capable of sending MIDI Continuous Controller CC messages Default CC mappings are listed in the appendix but you can use a special MIDI learn mode to quickly build up your own mappings Simply right click on any
19. mbre by clicking in the Instrument Name column then click in the Output Selector column to display the menu of available outputs MIDI channel AMG Kick Ass Brass is a multi timbral plugin It has eight fully independent separate synthesiser engines called Timbres each with up to 64 voice polyphony less voices may be playable depending on the clock speed of your CPU Many host programs will have the ability to send multiple tracks of MIDI data to a single plugin using different MIDI channels Please consult your host manual for information about compatibility and instructions for how to use multi timbral plugins When scoring a complex horn arrangement you will most likely have several horn lines on separate tracks in your sequencer all feeding into the same instance of Kick Ass Brass MIDI channels are used to ensure the correct track data is sent to the correct Timbre in Kick Ass Brass If you are working in this way ensure your MIDI channel assignment in your sequencer is mirrored in Kick Ass Brass s MIDI channel column so that the correct Timbre responds when MIDI data is sent To change the MIDI channel a Timbre responds to drag vertically on the MIDI channel display for that Timbre see Number Spinner controls in the previous section Activity Display The activity is a small bar chart of the sound level being output by a Timbre It is for display purposes only and is a help when troubleshooting MIDI audio connectivity problems
20. n should also be available for download now too You can find a list of VST2 plug in compatible host software at www kvraudio com lt http www kvraudio com gt the internet s best resource for information about VST plug ins and hosts 4 introduction What does AMG Kick Ass Brass do AMG s Kick Ass Brass is a virtual horn section for your computer We have combined our award winning library of solo brass instrument samples with a lightning fast intuitive sound engine that gives you the best possible sound quality and control right where you need it inside your sequencer Musicians with AMG Kick Ass Brass can easily add realistic multi part horn arrangements to their tracks with dynamic articulations and expressive real time control The AMG Kick Ass Brass library contains three types of files Instruments Sections and FX presets An Instrument is the fundamental building block of the library such as the Alto Sax Instruments are divided into a number of Variations A Variation is a particular way of playing the given instrument for example there are different Variations for the Alto Sax instrument when it is played with vibrato as staccato stabs swells etc If you edit the parameters of a preset Instrument Variation you can save it to disk for later recall separately from the library The library also includes a number of FX presets that can be loaded into the two built in stereo 64 bit FX units The two FX units are share
21. orm or when sending an email query to AMG Selecting the Register option will open your default web browser connect to the internet if necessary and automatically take you to the registration page on the www samples4 com lt http www samples4 com gt website The Machine ID field will be filled in automatically for you Many musicians prefer to keep their Digital Audio Workstations separate from the internet If you prefer you can save the Machine ID to a simple text file copy it over to a machine where you do have internet access and submit your registration request from there If you make significant changes to the hardware of your system your machine ID may change unexpectedly and cause your license file to become invalid Remember you do need to have a working email address to receive your license file Kick Ass Brass c 2005 Advanced Media Group VST plug in technology by Steinberg Media Techiologies AG Tachyon engine technokegy by Muon Sofiware Lid _ UBRARY PATH fleersidesignerbabyDocuments AWG Kick Ass Brass z l muovo A MACHINE wm 5449 AC FEAE 302A 8C 1040 7691 Cric aie Se Pr ADVANCED MEDIA GROUP 11 MIDI controller settings AMG Kick Ass Brass can also be controlled entirely from an external MIDI controller providing that controller is capable of sending MIDI Continuous Controller CC messages Default CC mappings are listed below but you can use a special MIDI learn mode to quickly build up your own
22. the values in the other columns of the Display Screen Volume Sets the overall output volume of the currently selected Timbre in the Section Note that this control is pre mapped to MIDI controller 7 volume If your host supports the sending of default volume values to tracks this control will resoond automatically e Pan Sets the balance between the left and right output channels for the currently selected Timbre in the Section Note that this control is pre mapped to MIDI controller 10 Pan If your host supports the sending of default pan values to tracks this control will respond es HHH automatically Vibrato Rate Vibrato is a rhythmical variation in the pitch of a sound This parameter sets the speed of the Vibrato applied to the currently selected Instrument in Hz A value of around 4 0 4 5 feels quite natural with horn sounds Vibrato Amount Sets the strength of the Vibrato applied to the currently selected Instrument from 100 to 100 Negative values cause the pitch to swing first down then up Positive values cause the pitch to swing first up then down A value of around 10 to 20 sounds unobtrusive and adds movement Higher values will give a far more pronounced effect Vibrato Controller Selects a MIDI performance controller Velocity Channel Aftertouch Modulation Wheel to be dedicated to controlling Vibrato Depth in real time e Vibrato Controller Depth Determines how much influence the
Download Pdf Manuals
Related Search